We employed quantitative receptor autoradiography to analyze pharmacological properties of 125I-Bolton Hunter cholecystokinin (CCK-8)-labeled binding sites in sections of rat cervical vagus nerve that had been ligated 24 h prior to extraction. Binding densities were detected in segments of nerve proximal and distal to the ligature. Analysis was confined to proximal segments. Saturation and competitive binding studies were carried out using sulphated CCK-8 and two selective CCK receptor antagonists: MK-329, to define type-A (CCKA) binding sites; and, L-365,260, to define type-B (CCKB) binding sites. Sulphated CCK-8 was the most potent inhibitor of vagal 125I-CCK binding (IC50 = 2 nM). Nonlinear curve fitting analysis of the CCK binding data favored the presence of a single class of vagal CCK receptors (KDi = 1 nM). However, both MK-329 (IC50 = 18 nM) and L-365,260 (IC50 = 45 nM) competed for vagal 125I-CCK binding indicating the presence of CCKA and CCKB binding sites. Co-analysis of the antagonist binding data suggested that CCKA and CCKB receptors were transported in equal concentrations within the vagus. MK-329 bound with high affinity to CCKA sites (Ki = 3 nM) and low-affinity to CCKB sites (Ki = 462 nM) while L-365,260 bound with high affinity to CCKB sites (Ki = 10 nM) and low-affinity to CCKA sites (Ki = 775 nM). These same ligands were used to characterize the specificity of 125I-CCK binding in the medial and lateral divisions of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), two regions innervated by primary vagal afferents carrying CCK receptors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)